Confirmed! AB’s STAYING in Tests

Sport 24 – Cape Town – AB de Villiers, the Proteas’ most brazen and crowd-pleasing batsman across the formats, has been nailed down for further involvement in Test cricket … at least for the period up to the next World Cup in late May next year.

Summary

Cape Town – AB de Villiers, the Proteas’ most brazen and crowd-pleasing batsman across the formats, has been nailed down for further involvement in Test cricket … at least for the period up to the next World Cup in late May next year.

Nevertheless, it is a fillip for South African fans that the ace, in-form stroke-player will be extending his presence in the time-honoured Test format, along with the always-anticipated situation that he would want another (final) crack at the 50-overs World Cup in England and Wales in the middle of next year.

De Villiers took a much-discussed, lengthy break from the five-day game between January 2016 and December 2017, having been on the general international treadmill since his Test debut against England at St George’s Park back in late 2004.

Some pundits and enthusiasts understandably feared not too long ago that the two major Test series of the home summer, first against India and now the Baggy Greens, might constitute De Villiers’ swansong in the most traditional form of the game.

De Villiers sports 8,563 Test runs from 112 appearances at 50.66 and has played 18 Tests at Newlands, scene of the looming third clash with the Australians, with three centuries at the ground.